• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, Yesterday

While the streaming and linear TV world might like to focus on high-profile live programming -- like live sports from the the NFL, NBA, etc. -- new research says increasingly it comes from a different and slightly unexpected space: movies. In particular, some recent movies.

Parrot Analytics recently looked at data around thousands of films from Prime Video, Disney+, Netflix and HBO Max, to see how each title resulted in actual revenue in the U.S. market for platforms. (We are guessing this only came from subscription -- not advertising -- revenue.)

The results showed that movies in 2024 contributed nearly 50% of streaming revenue -- up from 27% in 2022.

Looking individually at streaming platforms, Amazon Prime Video was estimated to get 58% of its revenues from movies, with Disney+ estimated to come in at 74%, Netflix at 42%, and Warner Bros. Discovery at 38%.

When looking at somewhat older titles -- as far back as 2020 -- the numbers are even higher, at a 66% estimate.

It seems that not only do decent movie titles help keep “churn” down among subscribers who leave streamers, but that it can mean more “appointment” movie scheduling time for users.

Parrot emphasized that Netflix’s co-CEO Ted Sarandos has repeatedly noted its film library is where “members go to watch their weekend movie." And that Casey Bloys, chairman and CEO of HBO/HBO Max content, now looks more closely at content that its subscribers actually watch — which increasingly includes very recent theatrical movies.

So streaming platforms then need to have the right mix of top live sports content, movies and fresh TV series and episodes, for example? All the rage recently has been around live sports, of course. But that comes with crazy expensive right fees, which do result in higher engagement (viewing). 

Where does that leave films? Parrot says movies then become streamer’s “quietly dependable workhorses.” 

In that regard, should a top-drawer “Wicked” come on line to streaming with Peacock, streamers need to advertise that debut. 

Should it do more as a regular reminder to subscribers about the quality of its film content -- on a streamer’s program home page navigation system or on linear TV?

Churn, ever more competition, and a more mature industry means more innovation -- marketing and otherwise -- especially in a still exploding world with ever more content.